Tickets to a potential American League Division Series will go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Minute Maid Park box office, by phone at 1-877-9ASTROS or online at www.astros.com/postseason.

Tickets will be available for the Astros' first two potential ALDS home games, which would be Oct. 11 and Oct. 12. If the Astros play in the ALDS, Games 3 and 4 would be at Minute Maid Park. The Astros would open the ALDS on the road.

Astros tickets also will be available for a potential regular-season tiebreaker home game, which would be Monday or Tuesday if played at Minute Maid Park.

Memorable year for Altuve, Hinch

A pair of Astros anniversaries arrived during the current series with the Mariners. A year ago Tuesday, manager A.J. Hinch was hired.

A day earlier, on Sept. 28, 2014, Jose Altuve wrapped up the first batting title in Astros history in New York.

"That was one of the best moments in the big leagues I ever had," Altuve said Tuesday. "That was a pretty cool moment. I would say I'd rather be in this situation that I'm in right now. Obviously, I'm having another good season, but what makes it even better: We're chasing October."

The pressure is on the Astros as a whole right now. Last year, as another losing season wound down, all eyes turned to Altuve, whose .341 average was the best in either league.

This year, there's still a frenetic energy behind Altuve's play, but what he wants to achieve can't be done alone.

"Especially when I went to Twitter and like everybody came out and said, 'You've got to do it for the city of Houston. It's going to be your first batting title,' and all that kind of stuff, it made me feel like, 'OK, it's not only for me; it's for the city, too.'

"Last year, that was something that I have to do. Like, I have to win it," Altuve said with emphasis. "But this year, it's more like a team effort. And I think every single guy is putting all his effort to win every single game and go to the playoffs. I mean, I wouldn't say I feel pressure (now) - but I feel anxious to win the games."

Miguel Cabrera and Bryce Harper are going toe-to-toe for the major league batting title this season (they both ended Tuesday at .334), and Cabrera, who like Altuve is from Venezuela, seems a lock to win the American League crown. Altuve has a chance to get to 200 hits again and came into Tuesday with a .312 average, 10th in the majors.

While Altuve undoubtedly would have enjoyed repeating as batting champion, he had every reason early in the year to focus on the team.

"Even last year, I didn't think about to win the batting title until the last month, when I saw the numbers, obviously, and I was on top of everybody," Altuve said. "I never started the season thinking that I wanted to win something. But as soon as the season started developing, that's when you start realizing you have a chance to win something.

"Like this year, I mean, we started the season playing good, good, good. And we get to September, and we were in first place, and now we realize that we can go to the playoffs.

"Right now, I don't feel like I want to win something for me. I feel like I want to win something for all my teammates."

As for Hinch, he jokingly said, "Happy anniversary to me."

"A lot's happened in a year," Hinch said of his Astros hiring. "I was hopeful (to get another managerial job). But you never know.

"I think when I got interviewed by Houston a couple years ago and by (the Cubs) two years ago, I knew that my name was still in the mix. That gave me a lot hope that I'd get back on the field. These are hard jobs to get, hard jobs to keep, and there's high expectations. I'm very privileged to do it."